Funding Initiatives

Vibrant Parishes

“The parish is where the Church lives. Parishes are communities of faith, of action, and of hope. They are where the Gospel is proclaimed and celebrated, where believers are formed and sent to renew the earth. Parishes are the home of the Christian community; they are the heart of our Church. Parishes are the place where God’s people meet Jesus in word and sacrament and come in touch with the source of the Church’s life.”

– U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Communities of Salt and Light

Local Parish Needs

The parish is where we experience, for the first time outside our family circle, the community aspect of the faith. It is where children first see their parents, siblings, and friends worshipping together, rejoicing, or sometimes grieving, as part of one united, connected, and blessed extended family. The vibrancy of the local parish directly impacts the fullness with which each member experiences his or her faith, regardless of age.

For the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Hartford to be vibrant, our parishes must be vibrant. The Forward With Faith Campaign places great emphasis on securing the resources to ensure that our parishes will be prepared to nurture the next generation of Catholics. To that end, a minimum of 50% of the funds collected at the parish level will remain at the individual parish to address its own local needs.

Cathedral of St. Joseph

In addition to serving the ministry of the Archbishop and as the Mother Church for all in our Archdiocese, the Cathedral campus provides family housing and community outreach services in partnership with Catholic Charities. “Cathedral Green,” the former St. Joseph Cathedral School has been transformed into affordable homes for 28 Asylum Hill families. These families are welcomed with easy access to programs and services to ensure their well-being.

The Campaign will make possible:

A totally renovated lower Cathedral which will create a new Cathedral Hall for people to gather after Cathedral liturgies and other events, as well as educational and community meeting facilities, a dining area and even some mausoleum space;
Development of a Cathedral Square featuring a welcome plaza, pedestrian mall, memorial park, public gardens and an outdoor gathering place for the entire community;
Restoration of the steeple and bell tower and illumination of the steeple and Cross that crowns it; and,
Repairs to the front plaza and the majestic bronze front doors.

Through these initiatives, we hope to create a new gateway in Hartford to welcome not only the Catholic faithful, but also the wider community, to reflect and hopefully pray in the environment created by the gardens, open green spaces, event, meeting and educational spaces and prayerful corners, and the Cathedral itself.

FUNDING INITIATIVES

Educating to Reignite the Faith

Empowering Young Catholics

Our Catholic schools and faith formation programs are held to the highest Archdiocesan Religion Curriculum Standards (ARCS) to ensure student outcomes are tracked and ultimately achieved in all essential Catholic course areas. These standards are designed to empower young Catholics to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, engage them in their role as active participants in the Church, and to foster their growth spiritually, academically, personally and morally.

As evidenced through our academic results and standards, our Catholic schools and parish faith formation programs instill future leaders with confidence and a deeper understanding of Christ through a strong academic program and provide opportunities for generous service to the parish and wider community. The continual strengthening of academics; strong administrative and teacher leadership; and sound management practices are all critical to the future of Catholic schools. A successful Campaign will make possible grants to support faculty capacity-building, academics, and management improvements.

Topics

Professional and Ministerial Development:

These competitive grants will fund creative, innovative and transformational projects within the elementary/secondary schools, youth ministry and parish faith formation programs of the Archdiocese.

Grants for Innovation and Learning:

This funding will allow the Office of Education, Evangelization and Catechesis to develop programs of accompaniment and formation and retain expert speakers, mentors, coaches and materials for this important formative work for clergy, religious and lay leaders.

Tuition remission for our teachers' and our administrators' children:

In order to effectively recruit and retain excellent teachers and administrators, as well as boost enrollments, we will establish a fund to benefit teachers and administrators who wish to enroll their children in a Catholic school.

FUNDING INITIATIVES

Champions in Service to Others

Answering Pope Francis’ call for Catholics to be “real champions in the service of others,” the Archdiocese of Hartford’s social service agencies deliver care, with respect and compassion, to individuals and families of all faiths and nationalities throughout the three counties of the Archdiocese each day.

Learning and Life Skills Program

Catholic Charities Services for Developmentally Disabled Adults will establish a Learning and Life Skills Program, offering comprehensive day programming and enrichment services to promote lifelong health and personal empowerment. The program will serve up to 45 developmentally-disabled individuals at any given time

The Learning and Life Skills Program will also provide adaptive physical education and health and wellness services to those with physical disabilities, as well as vocational and educational enrichment services. The program will include a health and wellness room, featuring adaptive fitness and exercise equipment, a graphic arts program, a green house, and a culinary arts program.

Behavioral Health

Catholic Charities is a leader in providing competent mental health and substance abuse disorder solutions for children, adolescents, and adults. Across its seven licensed clinics throughout the Archdiocese of Hartford, Catholic Charities annually serves more than 7,000 people of all backgrounds through crisis resolution and ongoing support.

Funding will allow Catholic Charities to add clinicians to its team; provide for community-based workshops and forums on mental health issues, including the opioid crisis, which is rampant across the state; and support small-scale renovations and equipment needs. These initiatives will ultimately expand Catholic Charities’ reach to more than 700 individuals and families per year, enabling those served to find long-term solutions that bring them into more spiritually-enriching, fulfilling and productive lives.

Elderly Care and Intergenerational Services

Each year, Catholic Charities’ vital home, community and center-based programs assist approximately 325 senior citizens in living independently, having continued vibrant contact with others, and remaining safe.

Despite the growing demand for senior services (Connecticut’s aging population has resulted in a statewide care crisis, with more than nine seniors in need of care services for every available home care worker), the funding resources required to provide these supportive services are simply inadequate. Funds raised through the campaign will dramatically enhance Catholic Charities’ home and center-based services for the elderly and intergenerational participants through the following:

Adding three full-time staff members to support programming;
Increasing activities and trainers for workshops and classes; and,
Providing field trips, supplies and other operational support to facilitate expanded services.

In total, Catholic Charities will be able to expand services to more than 450 seniors and 72 children each year.

Family Centers

Catholic Charities’ seven Family Centers currently provide 4,500 individuals with convenient access to quality family support.

Each Center provides culturally-appropriate comprehensive core services, in areas such as home visiting, parent education and support, financial security, and health and wellness. The Centers typically serve families over a period of several years, allowing for real change to happen, and its work is premised on research, which shows that a healthy child who has high quality early childhood experiences, and whose family is supported in its child-rearing, will have a strong start to becoming a successful adult.

Funds from the campaign will enable the expansion of these Centers, which will provide lifesaving services to more than 6,000 individuals annually. Additionally, funds will be used to:

Support a full-time manager to oversee the Family Centers;
Ensure quality program fidelity;
Hire additional Family and/or Fatherhood Specialists; and,
Provide administrative support and supplies across Catholic Charities’ seven Family Centers.

FUNDING INITIATIVES

Fund for Innovation and Emerging Opportunities

Innovation occurs every day in dynamic organizations like the Archdiocese of Hartford and in our wider community. The Fund for Innovation and Emerging Opportunities will help prepare the Archdiocese to extend its reach into the broader community by supporting projects that show outstanding potential and require full or partial funding. The Fund will serve as a mechanism to help the Archdiocese be more nimble in its support of programs and community partnerships facing budget barriers.

Funded programs will demonstrate potential to create long lasting, positive change and strengthen our schools and parish communities across the Archdiocese. These may include, for example, communications and marketing efforts to drive enrollment and church attendance, or programs that benefit or promote STREAM education. The transformative power of this fund will also breathe life into programs serving the wider community.

Through a grant-making system, funded innovations will have a measurable impact and may often be replicable, ensuring that viable experiments give new energy and life to our schools, parishes, and surrounding communities.